Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (ドラゴンボールZ2, Doragon Bōru Zetto Tsū) is a video game based upon Dragon Ball Z. Budokai 2 is a sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai and was developed by Dimps and published by Atari for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Gamecube. It was released in North America on December 4, 2003. Its sequel, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, was released in 2004. As the GameCube version was released sometime after the PlayStation 2 version (December 15, 2004), the opportunity was taken to improve the graphics slightly and add new costumes. Japan received the game on February 05, 2004, for the PlayStation 2 from Bandai. There was no Japanese version of the GameCube version, although the European GameCube version did feature the Japanese voiceover. Budokai 2 is a fighting game with cel-shaded graphics to mirror the look and feel of the combat in the TV series. In order to experience the full potential of the game, a Memory Card is required to obtain and edit skills, and create custom characters. Gameplay Where Budokai 1 had characters up to the Android Saga, Budokai 2 has characters up to the Kid Buu Saga. It also removed 4 characters, Zarbon, Dodoria, Kid Gohan and Android 19. Other differences are that Frieza and Cell no longer need to charge up to their most powerful forms as they are already in those forms. Unlike the previous Budokai game, Goku and Vegeta can now charge up to their highest forms used in Dragon Ball Z. There are also new characters such as Tiencha, Gokule, and Kuriza (although Kuriza is just a costume for Frieza in the Japanese version of the game). Skills As in Budokai 1, each character is able to be customised by using a 7-slot skill tray. Players may choose up to 7 skills and give them to a fighter. Skills can take from one to seven slots. There are three types of skills, Special Moves which includes skills such as the Kamehameha and Super Saiyan, Physical which includes such skills as Super Dragon Fist and Zanku Fist and Equipment, which includes skills such as Senzu Bean and Bulma's Wish. Story mode Story mode in Budokai 2 consists of a board game-like adventure called Dragon World. In this mode, you play as Goku and along with one or more allies, travel around the 9 different levels defeating enemies, and collecting items such as money, capsules or Dragon Balls. After you complete the game, if you have collected all seven Dragon Balls, you are able to make a "wish" which lets you choose one from three special capsules, which include Breakthrough capsules (these allow a player to use all of a character's moves and abilities at once), Fusion capsules, and Bulma costumes. For a list of the stages in the game, see List of stages in Budokai 2. Other than Goku, there are several playable allies in Story Mode. Those playable allies are: *Gohan *Goten *Kid Trunks *Piccolo *Krillin *Tien *Vegeta (unlockable) *Trunks (unlockable) *Great Saiyaman (unlockable) *Supreme Kai (unlockable) *Yamcha (unlockable) *Hercule (unlockable) *Videl (unlockable) World tournament The World Tournament allows players to compete against the computer or up to 8 players in a Martial Arts Tournament. If more than one human player is present no prize money is available, but with only one human player the following prizes can be won: *Novice: 10,000 Zeni *Adept: 30,000 Zeni *Advance: 50,000 Zeni If the player reaches second place, he will win half the prize money. Once the first place is won in Advance mode, the player can go to the Skill Shop and unlock the World Tournament Cell Games Rules, in which the Fusion and the Potara can be used. Dueling Dueling mode allows a player to fight the computer at a preset skill level, or two human players to fight each other using any custom skills. A player may also watch a fight between two computer fighters. Edit skills Made up of three sections, the Skill Shop, character editing, and instructions. A player may edit skills on either memory card. Aside from Dragon World, the Skill Shop is the place to get your skill capsules. Bulma will wear a different costume depending on how many you have purchased at the Skill Shop (up to seven). Not every skill is available here, (Fusions and Breakthroughs can only be found in Dragon World) and the prices range from 1,500 Zeni to over 1,000,000 Zeni. Babidi's spaceship This mode is unlocked when the player wishes for the capsule (by completing the Dragon World with all seven Dragon Balls). Here, one or two players may play under various special conditions. One player mode builds up Ki (a form of energy in Dragon Ball Z) and when you have enough you will unlock Babidi-related skill capsules. This is the only way to unlock Dabura and Majin Buu (Fat, Super and Kid). Glitches The game has two glitches. The first glitch was able to give you random capsules in groups of five. To use the glitch, a player would hold down the L2 button and repeatedly go in and out of the Skill Shop. Each time a player does this he or she will receive five randomly-chosen capsules. By doing this, a player could unlock every capsule in the game. This glitch was removed from the GameCube version. The second glitch was able to freeze time with Android 17, 18 and Cell. To use it, the player must taunt at exactly the moment when the Energy Field attack was used. By doing this, everything was frozen but the player. To get out of the glitch, you must punch or kick the enemy. Japanese version extras In the Japanese version of "Budokai 2", it contained references to the self-parody of Dragon Ball, Neko Majin, Including an extra level in Dragon World and an extra costume for Frieza. There were also the Cell Games Tournament and the Z difficulty level, both of which were added to the GameCube version of Budokai 2 and all versions of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3. Dragon Ball Z 2 V Dragon Ball Z 2 V is a remake of Budokai 2 only released in Japan for the PS2 exclusively. Playable characters Returning characters *Goku (Base, Kaio-ken x20, Super Saiyan) *Teen Gohan (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2) *Vegeta (Base, Super Saiyan) *Trunks (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2) *Piccolo (Base, Sync with Nail, Fuse with Kami) *Krillin (Base, Unlock Potential) *Tien Shinhan *Yamcha *Great Saiyaman *Hercule (Base, High Tension) *Raditz *Nappa *Recoome *Captain Ginyu *Frieza (Final Form, Mecha-Frieza *via item*) *Android 16 *Android 17 *Android 18 *Cell (Perfect Form) New characters *Goku (Super Saiyan 2, Super Saiyan 3) *Gohan (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 2, Elder Kai's Unlock Ability) *Vegeta (Super Saiyan 2, Majin Vegeta *via item*)- *Kid Trunks (Base, Super Saiyan) *Goten (Base, Super Saiyan) *Videl *Supreme Kai (Base, Kibito Kai) *Dr. Gero *Dabura (Base, Demonic Will) *Majin Buu *Super Buu (Base, Piccolo absorbed, Gotenks absorbed, Gohan absorbed) *Kid Buu *Gotenks (Goten or Trunks) (Base, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan 3) *Vegito (Goku or Vegeta) (Base, Super Vegito) *Kuriza (as an alternate costume for Frieza; exclusive to Japanese releases) *Cooler (only in the Dragon Ball Z 2 V version) New What-if Characters *Tiencha *Super Buu (Vegeta absorbed, Cell absorbed, Frieza absorbed, Tien & Yamcha absorbed) *Gokule Battle Stages *Archipelago *World Tournament Stage *Muscle Tower *Planet Namek *Red Ribbon Base *Temple *Hyperbolic Time Chamber *Urban Area *Supreme Kai's World *Plain *Grandpa Gohan's House Voice cast Fighting Each character has a Health bar, and a Ki bar. When the health runs out, the character loses (as in most fighting games). Ki is required to perform special moves, and Ki blasts. Each special move is used by entering a combination of P (punch), K (kick) and E (energy) buttons, as well as left and right directional buttons. Characters can dodge attacks with the G (guard) button. There are varying mechanics for ultimate moves, some will automatically work upon their execution, some require a button input within a certain timeframe, some require rotating the control stick to build power, and some require both players to rotate control sticks in a struggle. New character features In story mode, you can now fight brand new enemies such as Majin Frieza and Majin Cell (Frieza and Cell with the Majin "M" on their heads). New fusions are made, such as Gotan (Gokule in the US version) (Goku + Hercule (Mr. Satan)), and Yamhan (Tiencha outside of Japan) (Tien (Tenshinhan) + Yamcha), as well as the old ones like Vegito, Gotenks and Kibitokai. Additionally Super Buu can absorb Cell, Frieza, Tien and Yamcha (at the same time), or Vegeta. Reception The game received slightly better reviews than its precursor Dragon Ball Z: Budokai. Many critics enjoyed the cel-shaded look but thought the gameplay still needed work. It has a 69% average on Game Rankings. Trivia *This this the first game to add button sequence when doing certain attacks (such as ultimate moves continuous ki blasts, etc.). This is also the first game in the ''Budokai'' series to feature Fusions. *This is the only game with Z''' in its name that features unlockable "What-If" characters. *In the opening sequence of Budokai 2, Krillin is shown to have no hair while playing with Goten and Trunks. However, Krillin should have hair in the era of kid Goten and Trunks. This mistake is made again in the opening of Budokai 3 when the characters are Buu saga era but Krillin has his Android/Cell saga style. It is most likely they just picked the image Krillin is most famous for. *In the opening sequence of Budokai 2, the entire Ginyu Force makes an appearance, even though that Captain Ginyu and Recoome are the only members that are in the game. *For some reason, Future Trunks was given the ability to transform into Super Saiyan 2 in this game. This can be explained due to the fact that he transformed into an Ultra Super Saiyan during his battle with Perfect Cell in the manga/anime. *For some reason '''Teen Gohan is unavailable to be selected as a teammate in the storymode even after unlocked. *There is an error in the intro of the game, when Gohan, Piccolo, Goten, and Trunks are seen raising their hands, Gohan is only wearing the orange gi only, there is no blue shirt under it. *This game is the only one in the series with what-if character encounters that features voiced dialogue or a cutscene. (Goku vs Androids / Goku vs Base Form Super Buu / Gotenks vs Cell or Freeza) *For an odd reason, the''' Ginyu Force''' and Frieza are first encountered at muscle Tower (Dragonball Location) in storymode which is unexplained. *When Dabura is hit him, occasionally, Dabura shout "Son of a...!" He does not finish the sentence. Category:Video Game